Lighting Suggestions?

[BLOODMAN]

First I want to say Thanks to all for providing so much information and support to us newbies. I have quietly been lurking on this site for half a year now planning my first salt water tank. I just ordered my custom sized tank and now I on to planning the lighting but I need a little help. My tank is 66 inches wide, 20 inches front to back, and 33 inches deep. Initially, I want to go with fish and live rock but eventually want to get into the soft corals and other light demanding invertebrates. My thought was to have 3 metal halides (2-250 watt and 1-400 watt) supplemented with PC actinics, but I am unsure on the 6,500/10,000/20,000K issue. Can you please tell me what will be the best.

Thanks

 

[flamron]

It depends on what kind of look you are going for. The 10K buld should be a white color. The 6500k bulb will probably be a whitish/yellow tinted color and the 20k bulb will most likely be blue tinted. If I were you (I am not and this is my preference) I would go with a 10k with the pc actnics. You could also do vho actnics and cut down on temp a little. I would also recommend getting some fans to cool your MH. HTH